Breakdown
by katie1999
Summary: At the end of series when his father asks Diego about Risendo's last words at the plaza, the realization of the events that day hit him hard and Diego has problems to cope with it, leading to a breakdown and a reveal. Just a short story focusing on Diego. Complete.


**Breakdown**

_Disclaimer: This story was written solely for the enjoyment of other Zorro fans and is not intended to infringe on any copyrights held by Goodman/Rosen Productions, New World Television, Zorro Productions, the estate of Johnston McCulley or anyone else._

Alejandro turned to face his son at the plaza. "Do you remember when Gilberto was just about to shoot you, he said he was not only going to kill you, he was going to kill. . . Then he never finished. What do you suppose he was going to say?"

Diego stared at his father while he thought about his question. How could he answer that? Here in the middle of the plaza? There was more than one answer to that. Zorro. That was what Gilberto wanted to say before he was shot by de Soto. The heir to the de la Vega hacienda was another answer or my brother. Gilberto had wanted to kill his brother but instead, it was him who was dead now. Suddenly, it hit him. His brother Gilberto was dead. The twin he never knew was dead. Something that had always been inside him was gone. A bond that was only noticed by its absence. The sudden emptiness inside him overwhelmed him, and he didn't know how to cope with it after all he had been through today. He had barely escaped death when he had been trapped under a pile of rocks after the explosion Gilbert had caused in the canyon. He remembered again the rocks crushing him, his efforts to lift them, the feeling of being trapped while he was hardly able to breathe.  
Slowly, Diego fell to his knees as he tried to cope with the agony inside him.  
"Diego?" he heard his father's concerned voice. "Diego? What's wrong?"  
Unable to answer, he stared at his father before he toppled to his side. Some people gathered around him when his father started to shout, and he was lifted from the ground before he lost consciousness.

The next time he woke up he found himself lying in a small simply furnished room and when he turned his head, he saw Victoria sitting on a chair next to his bed.

"Diego, how are you?"

He stared at Victoria while he tried to sort through his vague memories. He had been on the plaza with his father and then?

"You frightened us when you broke down at the plaza. We brought you over to my tavern and now your father is resting in another room. As soon as the doctor is finished treating his leg, he will come here to look at you." Before Victoria could say more there was a short knock on the door, and the doctor entered. Victoria rose from her chair and headed for the door. "I'll tell your father that you're awake again." She closed the room to leave him alone with the doctor.

"Your father told me you fainted in the plaza. This may be caused by loss of blood, so let's have a look at your arm first." The doctor pointed at the red stain where his white sleeve had been soaked with blood.

Too tired to argue, Diego let the doctor remove his shirt and undo the makeshift bandage he had put over the wound after Gilberto had intentionally reopened the shot wound. Gilberto. The name brought back the pain. The pain inside of him was stronger than the one from his arm. Diego hardly noticed the pain when the doctor treated the wound and stitched it. Did the doctor say something? Was he talking to him? He tried to understand what the doctor was saying, but he couldn't make sense of it. Someone lifted a glass to his mouth, and he swallowed its bitter-tasting content until the glass was removed. Then he sank back into the covers and let sleep overcome him.

The next time he woke up again, the morning sun shone through the slits in the window shutters. Diego got up from his bed, feeling dizzy, and his stomach grumbled. It shouldn't surprise him when he had eaten the last time at breakfast a day ago. He poured water into the washbowl on the small table at the end of the bed and washed himself. His old blood-stained shirt was gone and someone had replaced it with a clean one and another suit. Dressing himself with his shirt and his suit, he went down the stairs. The patrons in the tavern room called out for him, but he ignored them and headed for the kitchen.  
"Diego, are you feeling better again?" Victoria entered the kitchen through the curtain, carrying a tray with used glasses, which she put down on the small table next to the sink.

Diego stared at her. He wanted to say something but no words left his mouth. Was that how Felipe felt? He reached out with his hands as if he wanted to draw her in his arms. He needed her now to overcome the horror of the past day, but then he noticed the color of his brown suit, and it made him retreat his hands again. How could he expect her to come into his arms when he wasn't dressed up in his Zorro's black outfit? Now his large black cape was buried under rocks in Perdido canyon after he had crawled out with the help of Toronado.

"Why don't you say something? You haven't said a word since yesterday. What's wrong?" Victoria put a hand on his arm and looked at him, concerned.

Diego shook her hand from his arm and avoided to look at her. He didn't want her to see his longing for her and his pain. Turning away, he left the kitchen and headed for the door to the plaza. His horse was still tied to the fence, munching some hay below. Diego mounted and despite his dizziness, he somehow made it back to the hacienda.,  
"Diego, how are you today?" his father greeted him. "You had us all very concerned yesterday."

He said nothing and only slumped into a chair in the library, holding his head.  
"Are you all right?" his father asked, concerned. "When did you get up? Did you have breakfast at the tavern?" Diego only shook his head.  
"Son, you need to eat. You'll feel better then. I can't understand why Victoria didn't offer you any breakfast." His father took him by the arm and pulled him to the dining room and pushed him into a seat, ordering a servant to bring breakfast.  
Under the stares of his father, he managed to swallow a few bites until he couldn't stand it anymore and dropped the food on the plate.

"Diego, please tell me what's wrong with you? It has been a hard day for all of us, but I have never seen you like this. What hit you so hard? One minute you were talking about adopting Felipe and then next moment you dropped unconscious. The loss of blood from your injury can't be all since you're obviously under shock."

He stared at his father and only shook his head, before he retreated to the library, slumping into a chair.  
"I'm here whenever you're ready to talk, Diego," his father said who had followed him. Diego nodded absently.

He passed the day in the library, pretending to read although he only stared at the same page, ignoring the efforts of his family to make him talk to them. In the afternoon he heard Victoria enter the hallway, talking agitatedly to his father.

"Victoria, come in. Tell me what has you so upset. Have you been crying?" his father said.

"I'm sorry, Don Alejandro, to come here like this but there's nobody else I could ask for help," Victoria sobbed. "I know you have your own problems with all that happened yesterday and Diego's breakdown in the plaza. Is he better today?"

"He hasn't said a word all day," his father sighed, "but come in and tell me what happened."  
He rose when his father led the crying Victoria into the library and made her sit down. His instinct was to take her into his arms and soothe her, but he didn't know if she'd accept him now that he wasn't wearing black. Instead, he sat down again to listen to her.

Victoria reached into her bag and pulled out a piece of black cloth. "The soldier brought me this today. It's a part of Zorro's cape. They found it between a pile of rubble in Perdido canyon. There must have been a big explosion and this piece of cloth proves that he must have been hit and killed by it. I need to see the canyon by myself. Will you take me there?"  
She started to sob hard. "Please, it can't be, can it?" Helplessly, she looked at the two men. "Zorro can't be dead. He can't leave me. How can I go on without him?" She hid her face in her hands while her body was shaking.  
Diego couldn't stand her crying and sat down beside her on the couch, stroking her back. "Shh, Querida, don't cry. It's not true. I'm not dead." They were the first words he said after more than a day. Victoria rose her head and stared at him when he used the endearment with Zorro's voice.

"It was terrible," he confessed, ignoring the stares of his father and Victoria. "I was a fool when I believed Risendo wanted to talk to me. Instead, he built a trap. When I arrived at the canyon, he triggered the explosion. I tried to escape on Toronado, but the avalanche Risendo had triggered threw me off my horse and buried me under a pile of rocks." He ran his hand across his face as he relived the nightmare.  
"Diego? You?" his father asked, shocked.  
"How did you escape?" Victoria asked.  
"I was trapped under the rocks, and I couldn't free myself. In my struggle, I tore the cape that was caught between some rocks. I thought I couldn't get out but then there was Toronado."

"The horse survived with you?" his father asked.

"He had escaped the avalanche and cleared some stones away, creating an opening. I can't remember how long it took for me to get out but somehow I did." Diego reached out for Victoria who threw herself into his arms, hugging him tightly.

"I almost lost you," she whispered. "Please, don't leave me."

"I won't," he assured her.

"You almost died under a pile of rocks and then you fought Risendo in a deadly duel?" his father asked, shocked. "No wonder you were out of your mind."

"Gilberto knew he was my brother, but he still tried to kill me," Diego continued, unable to hide his pain. "He knew, but he didn't care. I didn't want him to die but there was anything I could do. De Soto shot him before he could kill me. Only then I knew what I had lost."

"What do you mean by that?" Victoria asked, confused.

"Although I never knew I had a brother he was a part of me that I didn't know it existed until he was gone. My twin is dead, and it tore the band between us that I never noticed. My brother is dead." Diego hid his face behind his hands as he started to cry.

"Diego, I'm sorry you have to go through this, and I know how you feel," his father said sympathetically, stroking his son's back.

"How?" Diego asked, facing his father.

"I had a twin too, and I felt the same loss when my brother was killed. Alfonzo and I were very close, and I don't know how to cope with it if it hadn't been for your mother and you, Diego." Alejandro's face showed the pain that had never left him. "I'm here for you if you need me."

"Thank you, Father." Diego squeezed his hand. "I didn't understand before what it means to lose your twin."

"And I'm here for you too," Victoria assured him, gently wiping his tears. "I understand now why you broke down on the plaza yesterday after all you went through. You should have told me before."

"I didn't know how. I didn't know how to tell you that I was Zorro, and I was afraid you wouldn't accept the man behind the mask. I couldn't bear a rejection after everything that happened yesterday."

"And you won't have to. I love you, and I won't leave you. I can't bear to lose you."

"I need you now." Diego wrapped her into his arms, searching her mouth for a hungry kiss.

"Diego! Victoria! I'm still here!" his father interrupted their kissing. "You're not married!"

"I'm sorry, Father." Victoria and Diego couldn't take their eyes off each other, as they were too relieved to be in each other's arms. "But we will fix that and get married soon."

"Yes, you made me wait long enough," Victoria said.

"You two? Getting married?" Alejandro asked, delighted.

"Yes, Zorro asked for her hand a few months ago and Victoria agreed," Diego smiled.

"We will all need some time to cope with the events of this terrible day but this is something to look forward to. We will be together as a family with Felipe and Victoria joining us," Alejandro said.

"To the future!" Diego said, smiling at his father and Victoria.


End file.
